I just received my Sili Squeeze for replacing those costly and non-ecofriendly food purée pouches that little owl loves. Ever sine she started showing an interest in the food pouches- they were not popular when she was doing purées AND we made our own baby food anyway- I have tried to find a more ecofriendly solution that we could make ourselves. I tried everything and ended up frustrated and wishing I could think of someway to create what The SiliCompany offers with SiliSqueeze!

When it arrived I was very excited to try it out so when we went to store for errands I excitedly gathered the things I needed and got a happy tingle in my stomach as it brought back memories of making puréed baby food for little owl when she was a baby. We got home with our ingredients, washed and simmered, and, while eaiting, I got out our Vitamix; a baby food making mama’s best friend! Little owl immediately said “noisy” and covered her ears with a concerned look and whimper. Now the Vitamix is noisy, after all it is a blender, but not bad compared to some. I offered her her headphones and she asked daddy for a cuddle and we were ready to go!

After making our yummy mixture, we poured it in the SiliSqueeze and the leftovers into her glass storage container and put it into the fridge- I gave her a taste and she couldn’t wait! I had to put it in the freezer to cool faster.

The regular nipple is as I feared, impossible to suck things from even as an adult. I tried biting, gumming, chewing, and sucking and with no avail, I got out the scissors. I started to cut the stopper on the inside to allow for a smoother suck. The silicompany is coming out with a nipple that has no flow restricting spill protection that will be ideal. My suggestion would be to keep that slower flow for infants starting purées but use a reusable stopper under the nipple like the Dr. Browns bottles. This may be the case for the newer nipple that they have coming out soon, but for now the scissor snip inside the nipple worked just fine and allows for little owl to have frustration free sipping. Now I am sure to keep the lid on and keep it upright. It is nice becaus eit does stand upright in the fridge.

Compared to food punches…
Pros:
-Ecofriendly
-You can make your own purée compared to food punches companies that choose
-Saves money rather buying endless expensive food punches
-Dishwasher safe
-New valve flow to choose from and grow with your child–I ordered one of these as well and it is MUCH easier for children to suck the purees through.
-Fun colors!

Cons:
-Must stay refrigerated after making purées Rather than taking it with you and using it whenever or throwing it in a diaper bag or purse. It would probably be a lunch box thing
-Requires you to go the extra step to cook and clean up
-Difficult nipple valve could cause some frustration–if older child get the SiliSqueeze with Eeze

Overall, this product is going to a new item in our household over commercially made food pouches. Being an ecofriendly family, conservation and reducing our impact on our environment is important to us as well the ability to create combinations of our own while saving money at the same time, therefore little owl will be sorting SiliSqueeze pouches from now on! I will probably be using the commercial pouches for travel or vacations longer than a day, but other than that, day trips and home will have little owl squeezing her snacks Sili!

I have a harder time picking out a stroller than I do a car! There are so many categories, travel system, lightweight, umbrella, off road, three-wheel, jogging. Then the extras, higher weight limit, storage, tray for kids, tray for adults, sun shade, peek-a-boo window, locking wheels. I just want to put my kid in and go!

That being said I am a niche market. Little Ladybug is not so little anymore at 4 and most often times doesn’t need a stroller. But we are taking a trip with Little Owl and family this summer and I know she cant handle that much all day walking, never mind when she is in sensory overload and needs a space to herself. I would rather use a stroller on an older child than a leash *I’m sure that is a tender subject for many with people on either side so lets all be friendly*. So I was in search of a high weight limit, relatively inexpensive yet durable stroller, preferably with some room for our day bag. I’m not joking when I tell you my search for a stroller took two weeks of agonizing over which one. There are good reviews and bad reviews for each so there is no going by that. Plus I’m an online shopper so test driving wasn’t an option. There are many great high weight limit, durable strollers out there yet at $200+ I wasn’t going to spend that for our week or two of heavy use then once a year.

I settled on the Kekaroo Karoo despite the mixed reviews for shorter parents. IT arrived today and Little Ladybug and I are excited!! She fits comfortably in it, one of my biggest concerns seeing as she is tall for her age. The headrest/cushion is tall and adjustable so at the top harness hight you still have cushion above the child’s head. There is an ample sun shade which will be prefect for our summer trip. Its very lightweight, I can hold it in one hand, and easy to push. I will agree with others that it may not be ideal for shorter parents. At 5’2 the handles aren’t uncomfortable but they are high. It does not feel flimsy at all despite the price tag under $150 (some times even under $100 on Amazon or Wayfair!). It reclines nicely that I would be ok putting a younger baby in it as well, or perfect for a few z’s after a day of play.

Overall I’m happy with the stroller, we will see after a full day of pushing it how I feel but so far so good.

I had seen a groupon/zulily/totsy type deal ( for the life of me I cannot remember exactly which one it was) for Label Daddy and decided it was too good of a deal to pass up…I’m pretty sure it was half off the school pack. Little Ladybug will be starting “Big Girl school” in the fall and thought It would be prefect to use. I had a few allergy labels from InchBug but needed some new everyday labels.

Little Ladybug was thrilled to see Tinkerbell on her name labels! I was miffed that the USPS had ruined half our labels by shushing the zipper pulls into the other labels. Label Daddy customer service responded to my email on a weekend and sent me new labels for free. Emails on a weekend was a super star in my customer service book!! The school pack has a total of 132 labels in 7 sizes and 4 zipper pulls. Totally customizable too with either clip art or your child’s favorite characters. They also carry camp packs, allergy labels and photo labels. So far they hold up well on both clothing and lunch containers through washing machine, dishwasher and hand wash. I am impressed!

Since I have used both InchBug Labels and Label Daddy I can’t say that I have a favorite. Each company holds up well and has strengths in different areas. Allergy wise and for a smaller number of labels, say for an adults lunch wear, I prefer InchBug. For a variety pack for school or camp Label Daddy would be my pick. Both hold up, are fun and serve their purpose!

We received the BumBoosa 100% Natural Diaper Ointment in the mail and the minute we got the ointment out of the package-my daughter was already excited! She wanted to open the jar and rub it on her skin like lotion. We talked about how this was to help her bottom when she had rash and she smiled. Whether or not she really knew exactly what that meant I am not sure, but when a rash comes we will be ready! It is rare when we get a rash because we cloth diaper, but when we do, we will try our BumBoosa!

After doing more research about Zinc and cloth diapers, I found that applying the diaper rash cream directly to her bottom without a liner to protect the diaper is not advised. That being said when redness cropped up, I simply used a disposable/flushable liner to keep the cream from getting onto the diaper and repelling moisture rather than absorbing. I put it on before bed and when she woke up in the morning she was a good as new! Like I said before, we very infrequently get rashes with cloth diapering, but this works for redness, rashes, and what appeared to be a bout of dry skin.

It smells delicious, very natural, and earthy. I can smell the lavender and tea tree oil but it is not to strong that I would fear it would burn or chafe her skin. I also really like the fact that the company uses renewable recourses and is planning its next batch to have calendula extract made completely from 100% wind power! Go Baby Bumboosa! They are the only wipes I ever used (as we use cloth wipes as well), but if we need to get wipes from traveling or the diaper bag they are what we use. My only challenge is that it isn’t on shelves of stores nearby. I would LOVE to see baby Bumboosa at grocery stores such as Whole Foods or the like. This would make it easier to get rather than ordering in bulk from the website and maying shipping. I even used the wipes on my daughter when she was a newborn as we hadn’t started cloth wipes at that time, and I wouldn’t have any other wipe touch my fragile and innocent daughter.

Anyway, the diaper cream is wonderful, natural, and smells great! It worked for us and my daughter even wants to smear it all over her body like lotion! We will never use any other wipes as BumBoosa will always be our #1 choice for renewable wipes. Thank you BumBoosa!

We recently received an EcoPiggy Pacifier for review from the Natural Pacifier Company. It was great! We have used the Neufsetten Natural Pacifier and now got to try the EcoPiggy. The first thing I noticed was that it in NOT bitter like the Neufsetten pacifier. I also preferred the end of the EcoPiggy as it was a U-shaped and easier to hold on to or attach to a pacifier clip rather than the pinched style of the other. It has the option of a rounded or orthopedic tip as well as different sizes for 0-6 months and 6+ months. The other difference I noticed that makes the EcoPiggy more desirable, in my opinion, is the fact that it doesn’t get SUPER sticky and dark. It also seems important that the guidelines of 6-8 weeks be followed for refreshing the pacifier, although a few weeks beyond that seems okay, but no more than that as they do get darker, sticky, and warn out.

All and all it is a relief to know that it is a natural material that little owl is sucking on several times a day. It is easy to keep track of, clean, and know that it is one solid piece so fuzzies, lint, dirt, and germs get caught in. Thank you EcoPiggy!

This organizer is great! It is made of a neoprene material with a small circular window in the front. It has 4 suction cups and has a large space that holds a TON of toys. It also can be positioned low enough for my daughter to get toys out, BUT if you place it against the corner of the tub ridge and the walls, not only does it mold the caulked area, but it also molds the inside of the basket from all the wet toys, the wetness of the bathroom, repeated baths and showers, etc. It also falls down quite a bit, but if you are looking for a good organizer that you can tolerate a little mold inside (you don’t see it, other than the caulking issue), then this one is great. I am sad it molded, I think the bottom would be better if were made of all mesh so it could get more air circulated to prevent mold. Overall, we enjoy it!

ETA: Well, I washed it, it said hand wash so I threw it in the “hand wash” cycle on my washing machine to wash out the mold spots (ew) and hung it to dry…something after that made it NOT STICK ANYMORE! I tried hand washing the spots out of the neoprene with a scrub bush, no luck. It was that that led me to the “hand wash” cycle. Whether this caused it or not, I’m not sure, but either way. It doesn’t stick anymore. I pounded, I banged, I ‘licked and sticked’, rubbed, pushed, slid…you name it I tried it and no dice. Putting little owl to bed, I heard CRASHHHHH!! So now the corner of my tub caulking is moldy and I have nothing to hold little owl’s toys.

This table is BEST standing table of all time. It DOESN’T sing, play music, or light up! It allows the children to explore sounds like rattling, shaking, and dinging. It allows children to develop their on fine motor skills by having them put the rings onto the post or into the slot, spin the rattle wheel, turn the gears, and put pop beads into their corresponding holes or on the pegs- all while building strength and learning to stand! This has been the one toy that little owl and all of her other friends have played with as their have grown and still continue to revisit even though they are walking. The rings have varying rattle sounds when you shake them, different textures to mouth, and are brightly colored. This table is an overall favorite for our goal of having mostly battery-free toys and encourages imagination, stimulates the senses, and builds strength all while the children are having fun. It also foster relationships when children stand, learn and play together!